Winner of Photo Challenge - Morning
This is the last Photo Challenge winner in a while as I'm putting these challenges on hold for the time being. Life happened and time hasn't allowed me to keep up with everything as much as I want.
To begin, I want to again apologize for not being as interactive or responsive as I’ve wanted to be this week. A lot of personal things have happened that have required my full attention, including yesterday, which is why I never sent out a challenge closed note.
Everything’s alright and everything’s much better than I could’ve anticipated so it’s all good.
Please note that I’ve decided to streamline these winning posts a bit more, so my summaries or thoughts about the photos will be shorter from now on. This is to make the posts more readable as I know most of you are here for the photos and not my writing, which is understandable.
*IMPORTANT NOTE: This post is obviously too long for emails according to Substack, so if you want to see the post in its entirety I suggest you read it on either the Substack App or website. I highly recommend using your desktop to view it, all these submissions deserve it!
Next challenge is - To Be Announced
The photo challenges are being put on hold for the time being. I’m currently in the middle of a drawn out move, a job where I start a new shift today and a new relationship with a wonderful woman .. plus many other things ..
Things eat up my time.
I will write this week’s winners post, but I will pause the challenges for the time being.
I can’t say when they’ll pick back up but hopefully soon, possibly November sometime, just need to get everything in order before I can pick them back up again.
I apologize for this! Didn’t have plans on putting the challenges on hold until at least December, but here we are, life had other plans.
The Winner - @Mark Thomas from
Okay, so this is a first. Substack doesn’t allow me to tag the winner, which is strange as mentions doesn’t seem to be off, can’t even find Mark when searching for him. Meaning I have to tag Mark’s publication, rather than him personally.
Either way, Mark’s photo is fantastic in every way. It’s a perfect display of a gorgeous morning.
There’s plenty of other fantastic photos that Mark submitted and I highly recommend you check them out. Mark is clearly a very talented photographer.
Thank you for submitting this absolutely gorgeous photo, Mark.
Do not forget to subscribe to Mark and his Substack - Taisty Bytes while you’re at it.
Honorable Mentions
Choosing the winner and runner-ups for this challenge is never easy, especially not when there’s so many submissions. There are so many incredible and worthy winners this week as it is every week!
These honorable mentions are all winners, along with every single photo this week, but these ones had something special about them that I’m positive you’ll love as well.
The runner-ups for this challenge are;
(Ishita Singh), , , &
Ishita Singh, whom I unfortunately can’t tag due to her mentions being off, came in with this absolutely stunning photo of bird prints in the sand.
Ishita is a marketing head by day, coach by night. Her writing reimagines work, life & purpose through coaching science. When she’s not working on her next big idea, she’s diving, trekking or working out. Ishitia is also a: performance coach, permaculturist & mycophile.
In her own words re-written, but I’d add photographer to that because the above photo and the others are incredible.
Make sure to subscribe to Ishita’s Substack, Masters Of Fate, she writes about reflections on a patchwork of topics, mostly through the lens of coaching science & her experience as a performance coach.
’s photo is calming and beautiful. Perfect representation of a beautiful and peaceful morning.
Stunning work, Kerry!
According to Kerry, she’s just a regular Midwest gal. Personally, I’d say she’s an up and coming photographer and a fantastic writer as well. Not everyone would recognize the potential of the photo above, let alone snap it in the way she has. Clearly Kerry has talent.
Do not forget to subscribe to Kerry and her Substack - Midwest State of Mind, while you’re at it. There’s not a whole lot available yet, but I recommend you read Kerry’s post “Why We Need to Beat Children” it’s a great read and makes you think.
’s submission is, as always, stunning. Loving how the warm sun is hitting the water and the beach here, it’s gorgeous.
Alexander is an award winning Ukrainian-Swedish author who has written 20+ books. Which blows my mind. Alexander is clearly a very talented individual and I highly recommend you check out his books.
Do not forget to subscribe to Alexander and his Substack - Lighthouse, while you’re at it. I guarantee you’ll find something you will absolutely love.
came in with playful and wonderful photo of a parakeet or parrot, don’t know which, but they’re stunning birds either way. Beautiful photo as always from one of my favorite people here on Substack.
If you’re on Instagram you should toss Georgia a follow, her photos are pure art and she most certainly deserve your follow.
Don’t forget to subscribe to Georgia and her newsletter while you’re here. You may want to check out her Romanticising Home Life series and her Gallery series for gorgeous photos and quick reads about home life, you honestly won’t regret it!
keep submitting stunning photos and this week’s no different. There’s something so peaceful with this photo that just speaks to me, I love it.
Flavio is a travel photographer who has visited 39 countries so far! He’s an Italian living in Budapest, Hungary where he is a chemist. Flavio likes to combine volunteering, photography and traveling, his Substack, I only take pics is about that.
I highly recommend you toss his Instagram a follow, he’s got a beautiful grid and if I had personally had an Instagram, I’d be spending far too much time browsing Flavio’s grid.
Make sure to check out Flavio’s Substack, I only take pics. You won’t regret it if you’re a fan of a lot more beautiful photos from around the world. Flavio is a travel blogger and photographer so I guarantee you’ll find some awesome photos on his Substack.
As always, I feature up to five runner-ups plus a winner. But, as there’s so many absolutely fantastic photos, I want to give a quick shout-out to as many as I possibly can.
Each week, I select my absolute favorite submissions for feature, accompanied by a well-deserved shout-out. For everyone else, a link to their submission will be provided. This way, I can showcase the best while ensuring all contributors receive the recognition they deserve.
This week I’ll showcase and shout out four more of my favorite submissions.
I hope to see all of you and many more in future challenges!
Photos show up in this order:
Thank you everyone who’s subscribed, followed, participated or just engaged in any way, you’re all awesome!
Here are all the other submissions I received this week, in no particular order, so make sure to check them out, leave a like and a comment, and who knows, maybe you’ll find someone to follow or subscribe to while you’re at it!
Next Challenge - To Be Announced
The photo challenges are being put on hold for the time being. I’m currently in the middle of a drawn out move, a job where I start a new shift the coming week and a new relationship .. plus many other things ..
Things eat up my time.
I will write this week’s winners post, but I will pause the challenges for the time being.
I can’t say when they’ll pick back up but hopefully soon, possibly November sometime, just need to get everything in order before I can pick them back up again.
I apologize for this! Didn’t have plans on putting the challenges on hold until at least December, but here we are, life had other plans.
Don’t miss out on these challenges, subscribe today to never miss a challenge.
With the exception of subscribing, restacking and sharing my bi-weekly photo challenges and Behind the Lens posts, you can also support me (Patrik) by buying me a coffee through my Ko-Fi page.
Wonderful job by everyone again!
This competition has some of my favorites I’ve seen so far, amazing photos.